


Slag Heap

by Starcrossedsky



Series: Bladework [10]
Category: Tales of the Abyss
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Political AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-25
Updated: 2020-01-25
Packaged: 2021-02-27 14:13:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,509
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22398385
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Starcrossedsky/pseuds/Starcrossedsky
Summary: Three conversations Luke had about life, death, fomicry, and siblings.
Relationships: Asch the Bloody/Fon Master Ion
Series: Bladework [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/755841
Comments: 4
Kudos: 24





	Slag Heap

**Author's Note:**

> I told you it wouldn't be a year this time.
> 
> I originally planned this to be in Luke's PoV, but then as I started to write it, I found it worked better with each conversation being in the PoV of the other person. Whoops! Next part will be Guy's main fic, _Hilt and Pommel_. We're starting to reach the end of the first half of the fic that I had originally outlined (the last part of which is Tear's story, _Feinting_ ), so I'm kind of pantsing furiously to figure out how to make everything shake out neatly for the second half of the plot.

You're exhausted and unsteady as you make your way down the cliffside. Everything feels like it's going to jump apart on you - your shoulders out of their sockets, the ground from beneath your feet, the very air out of your lungs. To control hyperresonance for longer than an instant of annihilation is always a battle of holding things _together_ , and afterwards it always feels like this, your every atom continuing to vibrate like a struck gong for long after.

It doesn't help, of course, that this is the most you've ever done with it before. The longest you've held it, the most matter you've scrubbed out of existence in a glow of light - all for the sake of one person in an airship.

Tear helps you the last few steps, as you slide back to level ground. You nod your thanks, rubbing your hand at your forehead. "Take care of the pilot," you say.

"Are you sure?" she asks. "That hyperresonance was..."

"I'm just tired," you say. "Not injured." And healing artes in your vicinity might be a bad idea, right now, as jittery as the fonons around you still feel. Surely Tear can feel that as well, as powerful a Seventh Fonist as she is.

"Then go _rest_ ," she says, sounding exasperated.

"Planning on it," you say. "I don't need a lecture."

"Not _this_ time."

You roll your eyes, but Guy and Natalia are preparing to lower the pilot out, and they'll need Tear at the bottom to help with his injuries, so she goes. You're left to make your way across the uneven ground to somewhere to rest by yourself, and you do, far enough away that the fonons vibrating around you still won't interact with Tear's healing. You choose a spot around a corner, where you can see the trail leading from Sheridan, and slump into a seat.

Even though you intend to rest, you can't help but stay alert. Might as well put that to good use, keeping watch for anyone coming from the city. You haven't been there very long at all when there are footsteps behind you.

Crunchy, not at all trying to be silent, reasonably heavy. You make your guess and glance up to confirm, and it is indeed Luke who stands over you. Your replica looks, as he often does since he learned the truth, out-of-place and awkward, looking anywhere but at you.

You sigh, and gesture for him to sit down next to you. He leans against the rock and slides, knees steepling in front of him until he hits the ground.

"What is it?" you say, because otherwise you'll never get any words out of him. Just nervous, twitching silence.

He's still silent for a minute. "I think it's good," he finally starts, "that you were able to use hyperresonance to help someone."

Sometimes, you can't help but think of him like a child, even though you know that he's just as seventeen as you are for all intents and purposes. The statements of fact he makes are surface-level simple.

And yet...

"I do, too," you say, quietly enough that no one else will be able to hear.

(And yet sometimes, he knows exactly what to say, as though he was listening in your thoughts. It's more than balanced by the number of times he knows the exact _wrong_ thing to say, though.)

"Tear thinks he'll be okay," Luke continues, fidgeting. The cheagle isn't with him; lately you've noticed that he tends to distract himself with petting the animal. "The pilot, I mean."

"Good," you say. You're still not sure entirely what he wants out of you.

The silence reigns for almost longer than you can stand. Finally, Luke, glancing at you and seeming to sense your growing discomfort, says, "Can I ask you something? About hyperresonance, I mean."

You shift to look at him, but nod.

"Okay, but you have to like... I know this sounds crazy, but I swear it's something that really happens. Sometimes I get these headaches, and like, I hear a voice, and - "

"And it feels like the air right before a hyperresonance," you say. Because you know, immediately and with a sinking feeling, what he's talking about. 

(When was the last time you had one of those headaches? There was a brief one, before you left Daath. You haven't had one since, which now that you think about it, feels like almost too long.)

Luke has gone pale, which is more prominent on his Baticul-darkened skin than on yours (the only real difference between you two aside from your hair). He gulps and nods. "You... you have them too, then?"

You nod. You could wish for better news (You can hate yourself for being right later.)

"What are they?" Luke asks, slightly frantic now. "That voice... What does it mean?"

Of course he doesn't know. Who would have told him? Van?

"I can't be certain," you say, "but I think it's Lorelei."

And you can tell, again, where what education he has has failed him, because there's only the faintest look of recognition on his face. "Like, the Order of Lorelei?" he asks, which is at least a starting point.

You sigh, and pull a pencil and notebook from the inner pockets of your coat. It's a very small notebook, so you draw your diagram before handing it off to him. "When you get enough fonons of the same kind together, they start to form a consciousness," you say. "Usually they're just minor spirits, but each kind of fonon has one _big_ sentience, that's as intelligent as humans if not more. The one associated with the Seventh Fonon is called Lorelei."

Luke its quietly, taking in your words and rubbing his fingers over your chart. "These are the names of the months," he says. "So Gnome is earth and everything. Okay."

He hands the notebook back to you, and you fold it closed, but don't put it away just yet. You might need it again, for explaining your hypothesis on _why_ you believe it to be Lorelei's voice. (At least Luke has, seemingly, overcome his hesitation about asking questions.)

"Where are they, then?" Luke asks. "I mean, something like that, people would talk about seeing it if it was on Auldrant."

"Most of them are in the fon belt, in the upper atmosphere," you say. You gesture upwards, at the sky above you, steadily turning towards evening. "Most of them can be observed with telescopes, though you can only see Rem during solar eclipses, since it follows the sun. But Lorelei isn't up there, so officially, it's only hypothetical."

"Officially?" Luke repeats. He's giving you his suspicious look again, which is good, in your book. He's right to be suspicious.

"According to Order canon, Yulia Jue interacted with Lorelei directly," you say. "They made a covenant through song, which was the Grand Fonic Hymn - Tear's hymns are single parts of that."

His brow furrows. "But isn't that proof?"

You shake your head. "To people who accept scripture, yeah. But it was over two thousand years ago, so there's no eyewitnesses as far as modern science is concerned."

"Oh." A pause. "Except us, I mean, assuming you're right."

"There's no doubt in my mind," you say, even though you can't exactly blame Luke for doubting it. 

"Of course there isn't," Luke says, with a petulant huff as he looks away. "You never doubt anything. You always just know."

"That's not the same thing," you say. "This is just the only thing that makes _sense_."

"Yeah, yeah." Luke waves his hand dismissively in your direction. You feel your temper rising, because what grounds does _he_ have to dismiss you, he didn't even know what Lorelei was until five minutes ago, but he keeps talking. "So why did you leave Master Van?"

"Don't call him Master," you snap immediately, reflexively, tasting the ashes on your tongue of the last time you called him that. "And you should know why, by now."

"I want to hear it from you," he says, meeting your eyes. He's still spoiled, and naive, but for a moment you can see in his gaze the thing in yours that unsettles so many people about you. The sharp edge that makes people obey orders.

Luke isn't a threat - not to you, not even if he wanted to be, and he's only half a step above a pacifist, so _wanting to be_ is usually out of the question - but he still manages the authority. Maybe there's a scrap of royal pride in him after all.

It almost makes you feel bad, that you can't tell him the whole of your reasoning, that you can't tell him about Ion and Sync and what they represent. Why _that_ was the turning point that ignited something Van left behind.

You could tell him that you promised that you wouldn't allow Van to use fomicry on anyone else, but it's not a line of reasoning that makes sense without the truth about Ion. And that isn't yours to tell.

"Fine," you say, and assemble your other reasons in your mind. You know each of them, Ion, Cantabile, Akzeriuth, Tear, Guy, Hod. More secrets you can't tell. And together, the common element is...

"He doesn't care," you say. "He'll kill anyone who gets in his way, but more than that - he won't _care_ about even the people he claims are important to him. He didn't care about me, or Tear..."

Tear Grants, left alone in Yulia City, to soak up their poison, their belief in the Score above all else. If Van hates the Order and the Score so much, why did he leave his sister at their mercy?

"He left Tear alone as soon as he could," you say. "And he did the same thing with me and every other person he's manipulated. He knows how to get people's loyalty, but he doesn't care about doing anything to keep it. And I was only ever loyal to him because I didn't have any other options."

"Until Ion," Luke says. And it would be insightful, if it was right.

"I went to Ion," you say, "because I couldn't stand serving Van anymore. Even the slimmest chance was better than none. I got lucky, maybe the only luck I've ever had."

"What if it hadn't worked?" Luke asks. "What if Ion had been working with Van?"

You close your eyes. You don't owe him the truth.

(The truth will hurt him. You don't know how to make it gentle, only a little softer than the truths Van cut into you.)

"Then I probably would have killed you," you say, "to set his plans off-track."

Luke flinches. He draws away from you, curling his arms around himself. "...I guess I'm not worth the whole world," he says. 

For him, it's a mature observation. You just nod. "Neither of us is. No single person is."

"Is that why you let Ion go?" asks Luke.

You nod more slowly this time. The feeling of helplessness that you've managed to outrun since the Tartarus, through Belkend and across the sea, comes back to bite at you. "It's his life to risk," you say. 

"Master - " There's a hesitation, as Luke struggles to correct himself. " _Van_ won't kill him."

You look into the distance, in the direction of where you know there's a distant Sephiroth entrance buried in the desert. You wonder if that seal has been opened yet. You hate that you can't even take the time to check.

"He won't," you agree. "That's what I'm afraid of."

Van didn't kill you. He just snuffed you out.

In the silence that follows, you continue to stare at that spot in the distance, long enough that you aren't really seeing it. It isn't until Luke stands up that you even realize that there are people crossing your vision among those distant cliffs.

"Look!" Luke says, sounding pleased and relieved all at once. You can't help but think that he wanted to escape that silence as badly as you, but neither of you knew how. "Sheridan sent a rescue party after all!"

\----

You watch out the window as the group walks off towards the hotel. You can't help but think that they're all young - except your brother, of course. 

Jade... He was more expressive than the last time you saw him, when he attended your wedding out of politeness and nothing more. You'd felt how distant he was then, only half a degree warmer than the snow. And yet, that was still an improvement over the time previous to that, in the aftermath of Hod's fall, before he banned human fomicry.

Then, he'd been like a white-out, snow too thick to see through in the wind. Now, you think the blizzard has settled enough for you to at least see the outline of what's going on behind his glasses.

Once they're out of sight, you make your way back to your desk and sit. The end of your mug of tea has gone lukewarm, but you wrap your hands around it as you wait as though there's still heat to be had from it. You don't know how long you'll have to wait - if Luke will even come - but your mind won't settle, either way.

When the tea's gone, and the boy still hasn't appeared, you pull out a sheet of paper and begin to draft a reply to the letter Jade left sitting on the corner of your desk.

_Peony -_

_Life is certainly strange sometimes. Even as I was reading your last letter, who should come walking through my door but the subjects of it? I don't imagine my brother will take the time to write from here. It seems like he and the others are in a terrible hurry, looking for some research that Saphir left at the Professor's._

_It was good to see him. I know, you've told me many times that he's gotten better since the last time we spoke, but it was different to see it for myself. Even with everything that's going on, he looked better than he has since we were children. Same icicle smile as always, I'm afraid, until a bit of brandy warmed him up, but then he was almost normal. It would have been nice, any other time._

_But as they were telling me their story_

You pause, at the knock on your door, and set your pen aside. "Come in," you say, setting the sheet of parchment aside to dry.

Luke slides back into your study, his hair just wet enough that it sticks to his forehead. "Uh, hi," he says, clearly less at ease on his own than he was as part of the group.

You remember the feeling all too well, from your childhood. You didn't really get the chance to grow into your own with Jade over your shoulder. Unless you're much mistaken, the same is happening to Luke - though Asch is not exactly an elder brother, and, you can only _hope_ , less of a monster than yours.

(His eyes weren't cold, the way Jade's are. If anything, they were too warm. That much anger can't be good for him, but at least it will keep him human.)

You wave for Luke to sit down, though it seems like he's already on his way. Royalty never seem to be as aware of propriety as people who weren't raised with it, you suppose. 

"I'm sorry for calling you back here," you say. "But there are some things that I thought you should know about my brother, because you're a replica."

"I know he created fomicry," Luke says. "And that he banned using it on people." He looks at his hands, which are shaking, just a little. "Because it was torture."

You don't think you've ever actively heard it described that way, but you cannot argue the point. Most of the subjects of living fomicry experiments were animals, and of what happened on Hod, Jade only said that it was more suffering than it was worth.

It's typical of him, to have understated it like that. If he sees it as torture now and didn't then... You won't complain, if it means he understands normal people a little more.

You nod. "That's... A good start. I wanted to talk about when it was invented. I suppose you could say that he invented it for my sake." Luke looks up, away from his hands, focused on you. "I broke my favorite doll by being careless. Instead of trying to fix it a normal way or getting a new one, Jade tried to create a replica of it. He was nine years old."

Luke looks away again, back down at his hands. You can tell he's thinking something, so you stop, to give him time to finish the thought.

"...That's how old Asch was," is all he says.

You close your eyes for a moment. You thought that growing up with Jade had made you mostly immune to horror.

(On a child? Yes, that _would_ be torture.)

"My brother was always... abnormal," you continue, when you can open your eyes again. "He could use artes that most adults couldn't, and he didn't understand death. He would kill animals just to test his artes, and then take them apart to study how they died - he had no empathy whatsoever.

"And then Professor Nebilim came. She was a Seventh Fonist, a healer - and that was the first thing Jade ever encountered that he _couldn't_ do. He started to understand how other people felt about him, for the first time. But he wasn't satisfied, and kept trying to use the Seventh Fonon. The fire that started in the Professor's house was because of him - an arte that went wild, with fire instead of the Seventh."

"...So he killed her, because he screwed up," Luke says.

You nod. "He and Saphir were able to pull her out of the fire before she died, but since she was the only healer the town had, there was nothing that could be done. But before she died, Jade extracted her replica data. That was the first time fomicry was used on a living thing.

"The replica that was created was a monster that looked like her, sounded like her... Jade destroyed it. But that's how he got recognized by the military, and he and Saphir left to continue their research, always trying to figure out a way to resurrect her."

You look down at the letter on your desk. "His Majesty is the one who finally convinced him to give up. But I've never been convinced that he actually did; I don't know if I ever will be."

"Have you talked to him about it?" Luke asks.

"Not for a long time," you admit. "I know what my brother is like; he lies easily and won't tell anyone more than he has to. I don't know if he could have a really honest conversation with anyone, except maybe His Majesty."

Luke looks at you for a moment, and then nods. "I kind of get it," he says. "I know Asch doesn't lie, but he doesn't talk about how he feels, either. I think Ion's the only one who understands him all that well."

You smile weakly. "He's not as bad as my brother, at least."

"Yeah, there's that, I guess. They have the same sense of humor, though, it's awful." Luke fidgets with his hands, going quiet again, and then asks, "How did you deal with it? Having an older sibling like... Well, I guess everyone didn't _love_ Jade if he was a creepy kid, but when he was just... better?"

You didn't expect him to actually come out and ask. You reach up and adjust your glasses as you think. "Even if Jade was a genius, that came at a price," she says. "I don't know about Asch, but for Jade, it was his ability to relate to people and have a relationship with them. Except for Saphir following him around, he was always alone."

Luke nods. "Asch is kind of like that, too... But I think it's more because of what Master Van did to him."

You put everything you feel about that statement away, for a moment, until you can deal with it. Jade is not the only member of your family with a temper once he gets going, but he isn't the only one who can tell those emotions _later_ , either. You had his example to learn from.

"That makes sense," you say. "But it meant that there was always something I could do that he couldn't. I valued it, even if he didn't. Being Jade's sister meant learning young that 'giving your best' looked different for everyone." You warm your expression for him, in the way that Jade would never be able to, because he doesn't _feel_ it. "I learned to give my best, and not worry about what he or anyone else did. There's no point in comparing - just do what you can do."

"What I can do..." Luke repeats, quietly. And then he stands and, with a great degree of awkwardness, gives you a small bow in the Kimlascan style. "Thank you, Governor. I'll try to remember that."

"You can call me Nephry," you say, smiling. You glance at the window - unless you're much mistaken, there's a very familiar figure waiting beside the gate, to walk the consequence of his actions back to the hotel.

(Perhaps he _has_ changed. You couldn't have ever imagined, before, that Jade would wait in the snow for anyone.)

"But I'm sure your friends are waiting for you," you say. "But, if you need advice, please don't hesitate to write me."

(It would be nice to get letters from someone other than Peony once in a while.)

"I'll do that," Luke says. "Have a good night."

"You, as well," you say, and watch him leave. It isn't until the two figures have met up and started their journey back through the snow, that you turn your attention back to the letter in front of you. As you continue to write, you find that you can't continue to be oblique, and your feelings pour out onto the paper uninhibited. Not for the first time, but the tone of this letter is very different from the old love letters you once exchanged.

_But as they were telling me their story, I watched him, and I think that he might actually care. At the very least, every mention of Van Grants made him furious._

_I'm furious myself, after what I heard tonight. You were right, that Asch is doing better than Jade was at that age, but I don't think it's by much. It was unsettling to be in a room with both of them, because I could easily see Asch walking down the same path as my brother._

_The Fon Master wasn't with them; he offered himself to keep Van's faction busy. I fear for what might happen to Asch if he's lost. Even Luke has noticed it, young and sheltered as he is. If something were to happen to Ion..._

_I never thought the idea that someone seems the sort to want revenge above all else could be a comfort, but I don't think I'm wrong to say that it would be as bad as losing the Professor was. _

_It was unsettling to see Asch and Luke in the same room as well, but in a more mundane way. Once I noticed, I couldn't stop noticing that it isn't just that they're identical; they sit the same way, gesture the same way (except with opposite handedness), and when someone else was speaking, they breathed in perfect synchronization. But speaking to them is like night and day. As much as Asch reminds me of Jade, Luke is his opposite, awkward and unsure of himself but also spoiled and gentle where Asch is determined and hard._

_I'm sure Jade would have more thoughts. If I can, I'll try to have him write you before he leaves._

_Until next time,_

_Nephry_

\----

You don't relish the idea of trying to go back down the mountain, even if the moonlight and snow still make it easy to see. The moon will set soon, and then the trails will become much more treacherous.

It's hard to feel anything but positive, however. To be with your friends again redeems any difficulties of the trek, even as exhausted as you are. (The Daathic arte hasn't caught up with you yet, but it will eventually.)

However, not much further down the mountain than the scene of the battle, Jade's sure footsteps in front of the group turn away from the path you and the God-Generals used during the climb. Now curious, you follow in the middle of the rest of the group, almost stepping on the back of Anise's cloak as it trails through the snow over Jade's foot trail.

Jade leads you into a cave, perceptibly warmer than the outside and free of snow, which carries within in it the same faint ringing of fonons that you recall from the Passage Ring in Meggiora. You gasp, coming to a sudden stop, and feel Luke behind you bump into your shoulder.

"We should be able to rest here without _too_ much hypothermia risk," Jade says. "It will hardly be comfortable, but it's better than trying our way down the mountain in the dark."

"It's almost warm, compared to outside," Natalia agrees. 

"How did you find this?" you ask. "Does it have access to the Passage Ring itself?" 

"Not as far as we can tell," Tear says. "We used it as a shortcut, instead of going around the mountain."

That explains how they managed to catch up with you. You twist your gaze upward, to where you know the Passage Ring must be, but all you can see is a wall of white that could easily be stone or ice without you being able to tell the difference. 

There's only one section of the singing fonic barriers you remember so well, forming a wall along the path that prevents anything from falling off the path and down into the hollow of the mountain. You pull one hand out of your sleeve and touch it, sighing at the comforting feeling of fonons under your fingers.

"It's warm," you say quietly. Jade, looking curious, steps up beside you and puts his hand against the barrier as well.

"So it is," he says. "Though from the Seventh, not the Fifth - a pity, we could use a source of fire fonons. Still, it will help keep us warm - I suggest everyone bundle up and lean against it. No room for personal space, now, unless you'd like to freeze."

You shiver in ways that have nothing to do with the cold, but it isn't as though you haven't leaned on Asch to sleep before. You're used to physical contact from being carried around.

(And if you wake up, it will make it obvious that you aren't on the ship anymore.)

Just as you're getting ready to settle down, Luke says, "Uh, Ion? Can we talk?" As you sit up and nod, he adds, "Outside, maybe?"

The exhaustion makes it all the harder to get up, especially when Asch looks at the two of you like he's considering coming along, but you catch his eye and shake your head. You can stand on your own.

...On the second attempt, perhaps, but you can.

"Just give me a moment," you say.

"Sure," Luke says, and he offers you his arm once you've stood. You don't care enough for your dignity to not take it, and lean into him as the two of you walk to the entrance of the cavern, where the fonons are quiet but the mountain wind doesn't lash across your faces. Luke sits against the wall of the entrance, and you collapse against him as you try to sit down properly.

"...I don't know if I'll be able to get up again," you admit.

"That's okay," Luke says. "If Asch can carry you all the time, I think I can get you down the hallway."

You smile. "Thank you." Hopefully he won't have to. "What was it you wanted to talk about?"

Luke doesn't respond at first, and you can feel him fidgeting under his cloak. 

"Luke?" you say.

"Sorry, I don't know how to ask this," he says. "But... I saw you and Sync, and..."

You don't really need him to finish the question. You can guess, and it somehow doesn't surprise you that Luke would figure it out, as well. He certainly has more than enough reason to think about the possibility.

You can't help but chuckle, and then you find it turning into a full laugh, slightly hysterical and out of your control. "It's ridiculous, isn't it?" you say. "That you're only the third person to have ever have noticed and put it together?"

"Ion..." Luke says, looking at you with wide eyes. You try to get your breathing under control, but control won't come. The air barely comes as you try to gulp it down between waves of laughter.

"It's ridiculous," you repeat. "Replicas of the same person, and we couldn't be more different. And we both have what the other wants most..."

You finally manage to control your breathing, though your shoulders still quiver as you slump against Luke. Hesitantly, he wraps an arm around you. It helps.

"I mean, Asch and I are kind of like that, too," he says. "Or I guess, he knows exactly what he wants, and I have no idea."

"I suppose," you say. "But it's different - he's your original, and you didn't know about him until just recently. Sync and I are the same, except that I was the one chosen to replace the original Ion, and he wasn't."

"So before, when you said you had a brother you didn't really talk to..."

You nod. "Until recently, Van went to great lengths to keep us separate. And even now... He's just so _hateful_. He hates me, and I can't help but be horrible back."

"Well, he _is_ kind of horrible," Luke says. "As strong as he is, he could just leave. I don't think anyone could stop him."

"You're probably right," you say. "But I don't think he knows he can leave. It took Asch five years to figure out that he could, and we're only two."

"You don't act two."

"Well, you don't act seven, either."

Luke laughs a little. "I guess you're right. ... Does it bother you, having your original's name and everything?"

You frown, watching as a gust of wind blows a clump of snow loose from a tree. "I don't know," you say. "Does it bother you?"

"It did at first," Luke says. "But it's pretty clear Asch doesn't want to take it back, and that's what's really scary. So it's more okay now."

You hum. "The original Ion has been dead almost as long as I've been alive," you say. "So I don't suppose it matters."

"Instead, you got the older brother from hell," Luke says. "Damn, it does always come back to that, huh? Me and Asch, Tear and Van... Turns out Jade's an older brother, too. Maybe they're just all kind of screwed up."

You're too tired to laugh again. "You might be right."

For a long moment, there's silence, just the wind and the cold. You're beginning to get drowsy when Luke speaks again. "What did you mean, that you both have what the other wants most?"

"Isn't it obvious?" you say. "Sync is... he's so _capable_. He doesn't have to worry about his body failing him and making him a burden to others. No matter how hard I try, I'll never be able to keep up with that. And he wants my ability with the Seventh Fonon, because he has almost none - that's why I was chosen as Ion's replacement, why Van needs me to open the Passage Rings."

"Because you had a place in the world," Luke says.

You pause, trying to turn the thought over, but as tired as you are, all you can do is agree. You nod.

"Well," Luke says, "I'm glad you got the Seventh instead of him, even if it kind of sucks. Because otherwise, we wouldn't have the chance to stop them."

You nod again. "I think my original cooperated with Van as well," you say. "So I suppose that if it had been anyone else..."

"See? Even if you're not the first Ion, you're the _better_ Ion," Luke says. "Come on, you're passing out. Let's get back inside."

You find yourself nodding again, and don't manage to form words as he stands up and pulls you up after him. You half-stumble, half-walk back with him, and almost as soon as you're settled back down between him and Asch, you don't know anything more.

Not even the sound of engines...


End file.
